Paleo Diet Nitty Gritty Details Revisited

 

Barbell Shrugged is a really cool podcast.  I strongly recommend people check them out.

In my first post on nutrition, Paleo Diet Nitty Gritty Details, I discussed several of the nuances associated with the Paleolithic Diet, including cost concerns and complications brought on by travel obligations.  This piece continues that discussion with an examination of how a Paleo Diet follower can effectively coexist with a non-Paleo spouse, partner, fiance, or boyfriend/girlfriend.  Admittedly, that sentence is ridiculous, but any major life change can cause significant relationship friction.  Moreover, this is a subject with which I have significant experience, having lived with my non-Paleo wife now for over four years.

First and foremost, don't judge your significant other.  I learned this lesson the hard way earlier on, but it nonetheless stands to be repeated.  Most people don't like to be told what they are doing is wrong, and their resentment towards your "judgy judgy" behavior, as my wife calls it, will only torpedo the rest of your argument, regardless of how well it is formulated.

Second, don't try to convert your significant other.  Results always speak louder than words, so focus on the meals you can control, and let any body composition or performance changes speak for themselves.  For most people, breakfast and lunch are solo acts, with some exceptions. Between these two meals, if you consistently consuming a plentiful amount of high-quality protein and fiber-rich fresh veggies, you are off to a great start.

Dining with your significant other, or your kids (sorry, no experience from this angle just yet, folks), can be a bit tricky, but here are a couple of things you can do.  For starters, be the “first actor” when it comes to grocery shopping.  If it's not in the house, it's all the more difficult to eat. Additionally, on the relationship side, my wife always appreciates it when I take on certain household responsibilities that were once "delegated" to women.  I'm not about to walk through that minefield, but guys need to pitch in as participating partners.  Nuff said.

Planning ahead will also serve you well on those nights when things simply aren't going your way, but you still need to fill up before a tough day of squatting and/or conditioning.  Trimmed meat (center cut pork chops, bone-in chicken breasts, steak, etc.) from the butcher will save you time on the preparation side of things, and certain veggies require little to no additional knife work (asparagus and baby carrots immediately come to mind).  I'm also a huge consumer of sweet potatoes so I tend to buy a dozen or so at one time, but the key here is looking for sizes that will easily cook through in the microwave (medium length, medium thickness, no homo).

Another way to ease into Paleo dinners is taking note of what specific meat or veggies your significant other enjoys.  My wife loves seared skirt steak – rare, of course – with broccolini on the side. I'll microwave a sweet potato as an additional side dish, and I'm off to the squat rack tomorrow morning with belly full of beef.

If you aren't buying into the Paleo diet hook, line and sinker (this is something I would actually recommend to most people), you can always make room for compromises at communal meals. Personally, I've been strict Paleo for so long that lots of foods now irritate my digestive track, including milk, which is unfortunate because it's a very easy and powerful tool for getting big and strong (I've experimented with the grass-fed stuff, but it still makes my face and back breakout. No thanks, I'm too old for zits).  But other people might have different results.  If you start experimenting with non-Paleo carb sources, such as white rice or gluten-free rolled oats, etc., I would strongly, strongly recommend trying new foods alongside fiber-rich veggies, as the fiber will blunt an immediate digestive problem. Grilled pork chops, broccoli and homemade mac and cheese make for a great summer meal (my wife's mac is one of the few foods I make an exception for simply because it's so damn good). Nonetheless, I still load up on the broccoli and keep my mac serving more conservative.